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King Oebalus, alarmed by lightning
which destroys the altar during a sacrifice to Apollo,
Is comforted by his children and welcomes the exiled Apollo

Hyacintus: My friend, everything is now prepared! I hope
my father, along with my beloved sister, will soon
be here for the sacred rites that he has appointed.

Zephyrus: Unless I’m mistaken, it is Apollo whom you worship.

Hyacinthus: It is.

Zephyrus: So is it for Apollo that Oebalus is preparing so great a
sacrifice? Doesn’t he know that there are other gods
in the heavens? Doesn’t the son of Semele, then, or
Juno, Venus, Diana, Mars, Vulcan, or the almighty
Head and King of the gods require your incense as well?

Hyacinthus: We also venerate these gods, Zephyrus! None of them
is neglected or absent from our temples;
but Apollo alone lays claim to this temple
for his worship. My father venerates this great god,
and I follow my father in worshipping him.

Zephyrus: Dear friend, how willingly I would offer the victim’s
heart and entrails if you were my Apollo!

Hyacinthus: How fond you are of me, Zephyrus! Do you confuse me
with the Gods? I’m unworthy of such esteem, and know
your words are prompted by too much love for Hyacinthus.
(Oebalus and Melia approach)
But look! My father, along with my sister, is coming now.

Oebalus: Tell me, my son, are the victim and the fires ready
for the sacrifice?

Oebalus: Excellent: then let the priest light the fire, and
may the great altar groan with the weight of incense,
and the smoke from the sacrifice rise into the clouds.

Melia: Alas, father! A threatening storm menaces us with black
clouds, and the whole sky gathers darkness around us.

Oebalus: Prepare yourselves! Impatient at further delay, Apollo
is demanding his incense and sacrificial victim from us.
At our prayers this violent storm will pass swiftly,
and the sun’s kindly face will again smile on this land.
Come now! Offer up your prayers with me.

Chorus: Mighty god, son of Leto,
hear the prayers of your supplicants,
who piously strive to worship
you who are ever worthy of homage:
bless all here present, your subjects,
with your gracious favour.

Oebalus: O Apollo, always protect and
deign to cast your holy light
upon Laconia, the kingdom of Oebalus,
which we entrust to you.

Hyacinthus: I have always shown reverence to this god.
(O Zephyrus! How fearful I am that the words which
you spoke earlier have provoked this blaze of anger!)

Zephyrus: (O Hyacinthus! If you love me, keep quiet and
hide from your father what I was saying before!)

Oebalus: The fire is extinguished, the altar overthrown, and our
sacrifice scorned! This presages disaster for us! Alas, I am
shaken from head to foot by this lightning bolt!

Hyacinthus: Be of good cheer, father! Your heart is innocent, so
what harm do you fear from a well-disposed god?
You have sustained no injury from that lightning, and
none of us, numerous though we are, has suffered harm.
We’re still alive, and all blessed with our previous good
health; with this lightning the god just wanted to strike
fear into his people, so that the world might recognise
his power and be filled with fear as well as devotion.

Hyacinthus: Often the gods fill us with fear;
they rise up and threaten us,
they contrive wars to torment us,
they launch arrows meant to miss you;
but after the storm clouds disperse
they laugh and make merry.

Both by love
and by fear
they bind their subjects together;
now by loving,
now by threatening,
their authority stands firm and intact.

Oebalus: Ah, my son, what you say is true, yet I fear
that Apollo may destroy Oebalus with his fire.
(Apollo appears)

Apollo: Apollo hears your prayers, believe me, and
promises this land his aid, if you are only willing
to receive as an exile one who abhors the wrath
of the lightning-wielding Jupiter.

Oebalus: What? A god here disguised as a shepherd
wishes to be welcomed into our kingdom?

Hyacinthus: Look, father, how the gods make playthings of us!
No sooner do they injure us than a god brings you
remedy and blesses your court with his presence.

Melia: O, with how blessed a star does this gloomy day
restore us, as Apollo himself, for whom we yearned,
visits our home! What great distinction,
what beauty, what dignity, what great
glory and majesty reside in all his features!

Apollo: Melia, what is it that you see in a shepherd
which is so worthy of rapt wonder?

Melia: I see …

Apollo: And what do you see?
Speak, beautiful girl!

Melia: I see the beautiful Apollo, to whom, like my father,
I have offered my heart for a long time past.

Apollo: Never again take back the heart which you offered;
of all the world’s gifts, this pleases me the most.

Zephyrus: (O Hyacinthus, how much I fear the god’s presence!)

Hyacinthus: (His awesome dignity makes me fearful, too.)

Apollo: O Hyacinthus, you will always have in me
a devoted friend, if you are able to love a god!

Hyacinthus: How great a thing, that you could care for Hyacinthus!

Zephyrus: (Alas, now Apollo is snatching my beloved boy from me!)

Oebalus: Blessed day! O sacred god,
if you deign to stay here and to enter my home,
I entreat you to remain with us for a long time.

Apollo: At times I am Apollo the shepherd,
Guarding my flocks,
leaning on my staff
and standing guard;
but sometimes, not caring to graze my flocks,
I visit kings,
or then again give healing balms
to mortals.

To raise the spirits of the sad
and to help the sick
with my touch is
Apollo’s one concern;
as long as I remain here
and bestow my favour on you,
you are a king more blessed
than any other.

Apollo is ordered to leave the court of Oebalus because
he has caused the death of Hyacinthus

Oebalus: My daughter, I have no doubt that you are able to love
a god who is ever worthy of our favour?

Melia: What are you saying, father? Apollo wants me, a mere
mortal, to be joined to him in marriage?

Oebalus: Have no doubt about it, Apollo wants you for his wife,
and I was glad to give my consent,
but the choice is yours, my daughter.

Melia: Surely you could not think I would refuse, father?
What girl would want to reject a divine suitor and
such an honour, or to turn her back on such good
fortune, unless she were a weak-minded fool?

Oebalus: You are wise, my daughter, to choose this union;
for in this way, through you, your brother, father and
descendants will be elevated by the god’s status,
and our house made divine by these nuptial torches.

Melia: But tell me, what is delaying Apollo? Would that I
could straightaway enjoy his noble conversation!

Oebalus: He’s throwing the discus with your brother and
Zephyrus in the woods. But I hope he will return here
Soon to ask for your hand in my presence.

Melia: Heavens, what’s this? Has the god, who wanted
to make me happy, brought about the death of my
brother? Who could believe these things from you?

Zephyrus: I am telling the truth, and witnessed his death.
Scarcely had Hyacinthus collapsed than I fled,
in case the same fate might strike me down too.

Oebalus: So this is how you punish the innocent, O divine power?
Surely my kindly welcome didn’t deserve the death
of my only son? Is this how you are also preparing to
steal my daughter Melia from her father, O false one?

Melia: Far be it from me, father, that I should choose him for my
husband, and that in marrying I should presume to extend
my hand to a god who is drenched in my brother’s blood.

Zephyrus: (What’s this I hear? Is the god considering marriage?
Is he bent on stealing my beloved Melia from me?
Will he who stole Hyacinthus also snatch her love
from me?)

Oebalus: Zephyrus! What reason drove the scoundrel
to commit this crime?

Zephyrus: No reason that I know of.
Your son was just standing on the pleasant bank of the
Eurotas, and seeing his discus lying right by the target,
he called, “Look, my discus is nearer than yours,” and
touched the target. Then, the words scarcely out of his
mouth, Apollo launches his discus and drives it into
the boy’s head, so that he falls wounded to the ground.
I have no doubt that he was killed by this blow
from the discus.

Oebalus: Does the god not shrink from raging like this, so that he
even deprives Oebalus, who’s been kind to him, of his son?
I command the god, hateful to me and my people, to leave
my kingdom. Go, Zephyrus, and drive out the wretch,
before he inflicts more or worse punishments on me.

Zephyrus: King, it’s your kingdom; you should drive out the villain.
You’re the one who’s suffered the death of a son. I’m
afraid the god might bring his lightning down on my head.
(If only he expels him, so that my crime can lie hidden;
for I am the one guilty of committing the murder!)

Oebalus: I shall go! You both stay here! If the god comes
to you, my daughter, order the cruel one to leave!
I shall go to the bank of the river Eurotas to see
if my son is still alive. Perhaps I shall encounter
Apollo, the god so full of hatred for my kingdom.
(He departs)

Zephyrus: (Everything is going as I wished; my plot is working,
and my beloved Melia now remains to be my bride.)

Melia: I don’t understand why Apollo, who had not even been
offended, would have killed Hyacinthus, who was until
then so very dear to him. How can he love me, the sister,
if he has just sullied his hands with my brother’s murder?

Zephyrus: My dear, don’t be surprised at such villainy
From Apollo; you don’t know that unholy one:
he is cunning, cruel, faithless and fickle:
that’s why he’s been banished from the heavens,
for fear he’d disturb the gods’ harmony with his raging.

Melia: Reason demands that I believe better
of so great a god. (And yet my heart is wavering,
as fear and hope in turn contend to rule my breast.)

Zephyrus: Melia, what’s in your thoughts? Dismiss your bridegroom,
whose hand is still warm with your brother’s blood,
and bless Zephyrus, whose loyalty you well know,
with a love that would make his blessed.

Zephyrus: Look! You see two suitors:
one loving and one malign,
one helping and one raging;
to whom would you offer your hand?
Apollo will kill you,
but Zephyrus will love you.
He who stained his hand
with your brother’s blood
will attempt further outrages
on the delicate sister;
whom, if you are wise, would you choose?

Apollo: Are you here, you rogue? Author of this foul deceit!
Was it not enough to rob me of my friend Hyacinthus?
Must you try to snatch my bride too, you knave?
Are you planning to compound your crime, you liar,
with fresh offences? Scoundrel! Now see
what an angry god can do to you!
From one who is ‘loving’ and ‘malign’, now indeed
taste the just vengeance of a ‘malign’ god!
Rush in, winds, and imprison the villain in your cave,
Aeolus!

Melia: Begone, cruel one!
I shall rejoice
that a tyrant deserts me!
Ah, shameless one
who breaks his vows,
begone, begone;
for you frighten me.

Apollo: It is, trust me, the faithful,
the gentle Apollo
who is dying from love for you.
Why, hard-hearted girl,
do you cast me aside like this, innocent as I am?
If you reject me thus,
you are losing a friend.

(Would she banish an exile from her lands,
a wretch whom the heavens oppress?
I shall remain!
Until the fierce anger
wounding her heart abates,
I shall stay hidden.)

When Apollo’s innocence is discovered, Oebalus receives
him kindly and entrusts his daughter to him as his wife

Hyacinthus: It was not he …

Oebalus: Who was it then, my son? Tell me, if you love your father,
who killed you?

Hyacinthus: Zephyrus. Woe is me … If only … the god …
had been here …

Oebalus: Alas, now he’s dying …

Hyacinthus: Oh father! ™ Father!
Death … is … bitter!

Oebalus: My son!

Hyacinthus: Father! … Ah! Farewell! …
(He dies)

Oebalus: Hyacinthus! My son! … His life is over. He lies dead!
‘Apollo is innocent, father!’, he said. ‘Believe me,
it was not he; Zephyrus is the author of my death.’
Is this then how you treat me, ever lying Zephyrus?
Have you thus accused the god himself of so foul a
crime, and do you not fear to deceive me, the King?
Bloodthirsty one! I’ll avenge this crime with your
own blood! Should I bear a son’s death unavenged?

Oebalus: Just as a ship on a violent sea is thrown
through the mountains and valleys of the waves,
one moment perching close to the clouds,
the next plunging close to Tartarus,
so the rage from a heart bent on vengeance
surges through my body, my veins and my limbs.

Melia: I ordered him at once to leave our kingdom,
for the treacherous god has dared
to exacerbate his earlier killing with fresh slaughter.

Oebalus: What are you saying? What fresh slaughter do you mean?

Melia: O King! He seized our friend Zephyrus, and before my
very eyes caused him to be torn to pieces by the winds.

Oebalus: Oh, Apollo is just, for he has punished the crime which
The treacherous and monstrous Zephyrus imputed to
the god! He was the author, my daughter, of the murder
that was committed. It was not Apollo.
Zephyrus did not hesitate to launch
the discus at your brother.

Melia: But father! How
could you know these things?

Oebalus: Your brother told me,
for he was alive when I found him.
He died in my arms.

Melia: What? Oh father, alas! Why then did you
order the god to be banished from our kingdom?

Oebalus: O daughter! Moved by grief and deluded by the
trickery of Zephyrus, I remember ordering that. Who
would have suspected Zephyrus of so heinous a crime?

Melia: O father! Now we are all lost! Alas, he’s gone,
the god has left us! Believe me, he will not
bear such an insult unavenged.

Oebalus: What, daughter? You think the god has gone already?

Melia: I have no doubt, for I myself commanded Apollo
to leave our home and depart your kingdom.
Would that I could now recall
the god!

Oebalus: My son has perished,
and the god,
against my will
and without my knowledge,
has gone away insulted.
A kingdom without its god
will not survive for long.
O god, I beg you, change
your mind and come back to us!

Melia: My brother has perished,
and my betrothed,
at your command
and to my sorrow,
has gone away.
A bride without a husband,
whom, I ask, will she love?
Do not punish your bride,
O god! Ah, come back!

Oebalus: My son is dead,
and the god,
without my wishing it
and without my knowing it,
has gone away offended.
My kingdom without a god
will not now survive for long.
O god, I beg you, have mercy
and turn back to us.

Melia: My brother is dead,
and my bridegroom,
at your command
and to my sorrow,
has gone away.
Without a bridegroom,
whom, I ask, is a bride supposed to love?
Do not punish your bride!
Ah god, come back!

Apollo: O King, love for Hyacinthus compels me to return!
Excuse me for venturing, as a god, to bless your kingdom
with my presence. Learn what a god can do!
Hyacinthus, arise! May his body be swathed in flowers bearing
his image, and marked with the dead boy’s name.

(The dead body sinks into the earth, and hyacinths bloom
in its place)

Oebalus: What am I seeing? Can I see flowers rising
from my son?

Melia: O all-powerful god!
Blushing with shame, I confess my guilt.
It was at the words of Zephyrus and the bidding
of my father that I did what now shames me.

Oebalus: Noble god, forgive me!
I was blind, and had faith in the monstrous Zephyrus,
who was the author of the murder that was committed,
and I believed my son to have perished by your crime.
O how much evil the wicked Zephyrus has brought
upon my kingdom, unless you spare us!

Melia: O divine Power, don’t think that you have been scorned!
I ordered you to leave because I was foolish and too
trusting, and my anger wrung from me words which
were uttered out of grief for my murdered brother.

Apollo: Rest assured, O King! Apollo will not flee your kingdom.
He remains, and will continue to stay here with you,
if you now honour your vow to stand firm in your faith.

Oebalus: I understand. Behold, my daughter, how the god
has deigned to choose you as his bride.

Melia: Can I dare to believe that the god
is able to love Melia?

Apollo: Believe it! Jupiter himself
has more than once loved a mortal;
indeed it is entirely fitting for the gods to love
and to be loved by you.

Melia: Divine Power! Behold your servant, who offers
her heart to you in the name of her father.

Oebalus: Look! If any mortal bride can please you,
Apollo, receive my daughter from my hand,
and remain in my kingdom forever.
Hyacinthus is dead: you will be for me another
Hyacinthus, if you deign to remain in our land
as husband to my daughter.

Apollo: Oebalus!
I joyfully accept your offer of Melia’s hand, and
shall stand quietly at your side in all your endeavours.